I want a drone....help!

Anyone knowledgable?

I was looking at the skydio 2 before as I want something that is autonomous, but they're just not really possible to get.

Are there any other options?

https://www.skydio.com/collections/all

What exactly do you mean by autonomous? Flying a set flight plan or true autonomy and decision making? If the latter, I don't think that's legal in the UK.

The skydio will follow you, via a beacon or image recognition.

I want that, if I get a drone.

My Mavic Pro does that. They are genuinely superb drones. Old and new model. Huge ranges, good battery life (for a drone), good device compatibility and the best bit is they are super portable.

DJI call it ActiveTrack https://store.dji.com/guides/film-like-a-pro-with-activetrack/

Sorry for the pedantry, autonomous flight means independent decision making and routing to me. Follow me modes are slightly different as its not the drone that does the decision making.

The risks of autonomous flight are quite topical actually.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52533227

Interesting. I cant remwber if I knew that, I have a feeling I read that the mavic doing it is inferior to the skydio, but I need to go read.

Have you used it?

I'd been looking at them myself, purely from a guy who knows nothing about them I looked at starting with the mavic mini.

Active track? Only once or twice. Thought itd be a cool feature for filmng my various mountain activities but the novelty wore off and haven't used activetravck since.

Ive only had one done so can't compare really.

Imho, for the price, there are no competitors to DJI.

No way you can convince them to go the extra for a Mavic pro 2?

Just to update you, I managed to squeeze an extra few hundred notes out of them and got the Mavic Pro 2 just before lockdown. Just been trying it out today. Great bit of kit, seriously impressed. Thanks for the nudge to go spendy.

Ha! Glad it worked out for you.

Bit of a dredge but I fancy getting a drone. A bit to play about with, a bit to take pictures (arty landscapy jazz and less exciting things like gutters and roof).

Would something like this do the job https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Stone-Quadcopter-Altitude-Beginners/dp/B07VJNG56X or should I be looking at something else? DJI are the only ones I've heard of but prices for those seem pretty steep.

Same with everything you get what you pay for!
I'd go with DJI, or look at Autel Robotics.

Realistically if I'm spending that type of money I'm not going to get one.

Bit of a dredge but I fancy getting a drone. A bit to play about with, a bit to take pictures (arty landscapy jazz and less exciting things like gutters and roof).

This sounds exactly like why Mrs M_V wanted a drone and I encouraged her.

My advice would be to spend as little as possible because the novelty doesn't last long.

That said, Mrs M_V went for a DJI Mavic Mini and got a fairly good amount of her dosh back when she sold it after we'd taken a bunch of very similar looking photos.

Provided it’s sub 250g I’d just look at reviews for drones in your price bracket and see which does well.

At the cheaper end there don't really seem to be many reviews other than shitty AI generated ones and Amazon ones where everyone says the one they own is great.

All the ones with actual reviews just seem to be DJI ones

DJI Mini 3 / Mini 3 Pro. Small but ‘Proper’ drone, we use them on plenty of broadcast TV shoots all the time.

YouTube is your friend here:
https://youtu.be/ZUJVK_ePk2E

Ah yes, I don't normally watch video reviews so never think of looking at them.

Drone geeks on YouTube are a great source of info. Most of my drone related problems/queries have been answered by them.

Which app are you guys using to check a location is a permitted fly zone?

Are people using sub-250g drones in cities? The law seems to say it's OK. I think. Perhaps it depends on whether there are enough pedestrians to constitute a crowd? I read a definition which says that if there are enough people around you to prevent you from running away, you are in a crowd. So if a drone is falling on your head but you can't get out of the way, the law says the drone should not have been there in the first place.

If it is legal to have a sub-250g drone in a city, this one looks fun. Just tell it to follow you as you ride through the traffic. https://uk.thehover.com/products/hoverair-x1-self-flying-camera-combo

UK laws here: https://www.caa.co.uk/drones/rules-and-categories-of-drone-flying/introduction-to-drone-flying-and-the-uk-rules/#:~:text=Drones%20under%20250g&text=If%20you're%20flying%20a,must%20not%20fly%20over%20crowds.

Drone assist, sky demon (free trial or ‘light’ version), think I used altitude angel for a few things but the first two are good.

Are people using sub-250g drones in cities?

I'm droneless at the moment, but I would never have flown my mini in busy urban areas.

Lots of people fly them over the common / beach here in Portsmouth, but only time I've seen them in 'town' areas there are signs saying drones in use etc by proper pilots for serious reasons.

I've got a DJI mini that I got relatively cheaply after keeping an eye on ebay for a while. I'll fly it near my house (a quiet street) or the park or similar but I don't think I'd fly it on a busy street. Partly as there would be loads of rapidly moving stuff to crash into, partly as you'd need somewhere to land/take off, partly as you'd look a twat.